IRIS Movie of the Day
At least once a week a movie of the Sun taken by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is posted by one of the scientists operating the instrument.
Tangled loops and flare
Credit: IRIS, LMSAL/NASA, Paul Bryans
This IRIS observation lasts less than 20 minutes and yet shows an M-class flare and associated dynamics in the Sun's atmosphere. The magnetic field lines appear to be tangled, building up energy that suddenly releases this strong flare.